This season, holiday hair is sleek, chic and elegant. Hairstyles such as the loose chignon, soft waves and the classic pony are hot trends for 2009 holiday hair.

This year, the chignon goes from the classic to a more modern version that is loose and somewhat messy looking. To create this look, blow dry hair and create a deep side part. Secure hair into a low pony tail. Taking sections of hair, wrap them around the base of the ponytail, securing with bobby pins. To create the more modern messy chignon, leave ends of your hair out.

The classic pony is a sweet and sophisticated hairstyle and can easily be vamped up for the holiday season with a rhinestone hair clip, gold or silver bobby pins or other hair accessories. The 2009 holiday ponytail is sleek, shiny and smooth looking but not flat. Use a flat iron to create super straight, shiny strands before securing hair into a ponytail that sits in the middle of your head. Brush hair straight back or create a part anywhere you like. Cover your hair elastic by wrapping a section of hair around it and securing with a bobby pin. Lightly spray hair with a hairspray to tame flyaways.

To create soft waves, apply a texture enhancing styling cream and blow dry hair. Taking sections 1-2 inches, wrap them around the barrel of your curling, hold for a few seconds and then let go. Once you have done all of your hair apply a shine serum for soft, glossy waves.

2. Using your blow dryer, with a directional nozzle, blow dry hair sections of hair, keeping the nozzle pointed downwards to keep hair smooth. If you have wavy or curly hair, use a round brush to help smooth out hair as you blow dry. Once hair is dry, go over your hair using the cool shot button to help further smooth out your hair.

3. Clip the top and side sections of your hair up so that you can start with the back sections of your hair.

4. Taking sections 1 inch at a time, using your flat iron, slowly glide the iron down the section of your hair. Going slowly over your hair will not only keep you from going over and over the same section, but this also alows the heat to better penetrate your hair and smooth out locks.

Use the highest heat setting recommeneded for your hair as the higher the heat, the smoother your hair will be. Repeat this step until the back section of hair is done, working your way to the sides and then the top sections of your hair.

5. Once you have straightened all of your hair, take a polishing gloss or shine serum and distribute evenly over all of your hair. Remember, start out with less, as you can always add more, using too much shine serum can cause hair to look oily.

* If you have wavy or curly hair you may want to use a flexile hold hairspray to help lock in your sleek, shiny hairstyle!

When it comes to taking care of your hair, working with your hair, rather than against it, is what will help you achieve and maintain healthy hair.

Most important is knowing your hair type. Is it dry, damaged from styling? Perhaps you have oily hair or hair that is limp and fine. Coarse, thick hair requires different hair care products than hair that is frizzy and thin. Hair can also be like our skin, and have a combination such as oily roots and dry ends. Contrary to what many people believe, you don’t have use products from the same line or even the same brand for better results either. I myself use a volume shampoo and a conditioner for color treated hair.

Once you have determined your hair type choosing the best hair care products for your hair is much easier and the results of working with your hair type will be much better.

Choosing the best hair care products doesn’t necessarily mean spending a lot as many will believe. Now a days you can find Salon Hair Care Products online for much less than you would pay at a salon. Some drug stores also carry salon brand shampoos, conditioners and styling products at lower prices as well.

A lot of the time it can be trial and error and choosing your hair care products based on how great your friends hair looks isn’t always the best way to go either, as her hair may need different products than yours. Be sure to read labels, ask your stylist for advice and choose hair care products for your hair.

Our hair is a good indicator of how healthy we are. We naturally lose approx. 80 to 90 hairs a day so don’t panic everytime you brush your hair or look at the drain after showering. Grief, stress, thyroid condition, iron deficiency or bad nutrition are all causes of thinning hair. There are of course medical reasons also but I will only talk about the ones we can try to reduce or fix.

I have a friend who has been going through a lot of stress I’d say for about a year now. He woke up one morning to find a bald spot on the back of his head where just the day before hair had been. This bald patch was the size of a small persons palm. He is taking medication now but is still feeling stress and I haven’t seen any reduction in the size or any new hair growth. Yes, we do sometimes need medication, but I would try a different approach. I would meditate, yes, meditate in that situation. My definition of meditating would be a quiet 10-15 minutes where I relax and think over and over to myself things I am grateful for. Everytime my mind wanders to the more stressful side I start over.

I read somewhere that when you do not get enough sleep, your hair will start to lose its umph! Even when you can’t sleep, resting your body and closing your eyes is sometimes all your body needs.

If you work in an industry where you are using chemicals, any kind, always wear something over your hair if hair thinning is a concern or problem for you. I used to work cleaning kitchen exhausts and we used rather harsh chemicals and my skin and hair never looked so bad, even my nails were weak and marked. If you eat a lot of junk food, or too much fried food…the toxins have to come out somewhere, and usually that is your pores. Same with drinking too much alcohol, this will affect your hair no matter what hair products you use. Obviously over drinking affects your skin too.

This is something I just recently saw: Twin girls, who believed in drinking copius amounts of water because it is what kept their skin so clear and their hair healthy, were asked to be part of a study on drinking water. One of the girls quit drinking water for 1 month, the other kept her regiment. They were sent in for tests at the end of the study to determine the difference in their skin and hair, there wasn’t one. Not a single one. The girls mind you did eat healthier than the average person and I believe this would have an affect on not changing their hair or skin but I know that if I drink water my skin and hair are looking better than when I don’t.

Generally the first test a doctor or specialist is likely to carry out on a patient who is experiencing hair loss is a thryroid function test. Two types of thyroid problems can occur and either of these problems can result in hair loss. These are Hypo and Hyperthyroidism, to find out more about these conditions try googling them.

“Not every study shows a link between iron deficiency and hair loss,” says one Dr., “but from our clinic’s experience, it is clear to me that if you replenish hair-loss patients’ iron stores with iron supplements, they are more likely to regrow hair, or at least stop hair shedding.”

So, the main things are eat right, rest well, check your iron and wear something protective if needed. Till next time, Good Luck!

A Chignon sits lower on the head than a basic bun so be sure to focus on the nape of your neck as you style.

Towel-dry your hair and apply a loonie-sixed dollop of mousse evenly throughout to add texture and volume.

Blow-dry with a round brush to add bounce and then set with hot rollers or a curling iron. Concentrate curls on the bottom half of your hair,-keep the roots and crown smooth and use a hair straightener for your bang area.

It’s called the “bed head”, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Moss and Gisele are wearing it. The messy but sexy tousled hair, has to be past the shoulders to be effective though. For this look, blow dry upside down, use a hair straightener on only some of it and use it quickly, just sliding down any section here and there. Then use a large barreled curling iron and curl some of the sections you left out hair straightening. Use it fast and not in any kind of order.

The bob: Katie Holmes, Patricia Arquette and Victoria Beckham are all sporting them. A fresh cut is the fastest way to healthier hair! The look is easy to get with a light blow-dry and a hair straightener, you can either straighten the bob flat or flip sides up or in.

Then there’s the French cut bangs. Get your hair styled any way you like and let your stylist go heavy on your bangs. Leave them long enough and you can sweep them back when you feel they are too heavy in hot weather. Use a straightener for the bangs, or the whole head of hair. Or blow dry upside down for a slight scrunchy curl, still hair straightening the bangs.

Not like we don’t have to worry enough already about our aging skin, we now have anti-aging shampoos and conditioners? Seems lately I find myself writing a lot about aging and your skin and hair, but these are the two most worrisome factors when aging. I asked women what they wanted to know about most and this is what they said,”Tell me how to get my hair and skin back!”

Well, heaven knows I would love to, believe me. I am not taking to kindly to the thought of turning…well, the age that I will be turning soon! And yes, if I had an abundance of money you can bet your last dollar I would spend some, lots, okay, a substantial amount on some “younger” looking methods, ie: face lift? maybe a little nip & tuck, just pull everything up. Don’t get me wrong, I am most of the time happy with my appearance but my mother was right, time goes by way too fast.

With all the styling we do, hair straightening, chemical treatments, and such just to look beautiful all day it’s no wonder we have time to eat and sleep. Did you know that after 30 most women’s hair will start to thin out? I almost cried when I heard this, I mean I only have a few strands left, am I going to be nearing the age of 80 taking the local bus down to my hairstylist only to find out she doesn’t have my color in hair extensions? Trust me this is a scary thought for our fine & thin haired people out there.

Well, as already discussed in the last blog post, vitamins and all the other suggestions made for hair and skin are essential to the health of our hair. But, did you know that you can now purchase Age Defying shampoo and Younger Looking conditioner? This is a tremendous break through!

Dr. Reed, a New York City Dermatologist says “Chemically treat your hair as infrequently as possible, and avoid anything that pulls on hair, such as tight rollers, ponytails, weaves, and braids. “Not only can they cause breakage, but they can destroy your roots permanently, rendering them unable to produce hair,”

Hair Extensions are a great way to add volume and length. clip-in hair extensions are a good way to add it when you want and avoid the above mentioned damage. Hair weaving is different than hair extensions, hair extensions are done in a much less hurtful, damaging way. (depending on the stylist and method she uses!)

Take 5,000 micrograms of biotin (a B vitamin) daily and use protein-laced styling products. As your hair thins, it gets weaker and less able to support its own weight, leading to breakage and loss. Protein fortifies the hair shaft. It can actually stick itself into hair and pull splitting sections together. Isn’t that amazing? Your split ends can be brought back together by protein!

Y Serum Conditioner formulation reverses the signs of aging hair, transforming mature, coarse, dull, and brittle hair into youthful, radiant, silky soft, and healthier hair. You are looking to spend about $60.00 for the package of 3 or get it cheaper online.

Natures Gate- Stayin’ Alive Anti-Aging Shampoo Gently cleanses hair while helping protect against environmental damage, the effects of UV radiation and the stress of daily blow drying and styling.
Hair looks and feels revived and young! Retail $ 14.99, but I found it for just over $ 10.00 on line. Price is same for conditioner.

Natures Gate-Conditioner: Help hair look younger, feel softer and rejuvenated! This conditioner gives hair a new lease on life, without weighing it down. Infused with certified organic botanicals and a proprietary blend of proteins, its never too early to start an anti-aging program for your tresses.

I am going to try the Nexxus line and am quite excited about starting the Vegetal Silica/Nexxus hair plan. I hope you will join me and in three months from now I’d like to hear all comments, see photos and have a final blog on the use of the Nexxus product or the Nature’s Gate along with the Vegetal Silica/Horsetail plan. We can see and share final results if enough of us do this together. Till next time, Good Luck,

A new test designed to detect breast cancer may soon be available for sale in Europe. The test is called Fermiscan and is capable of detecting the disease in its early stage, when it is the easiest to treat. This new revolution can detect cancer from just 20 strands of hair, needing only to be an inch long, by identifying changes of the hair’s structure of someone suffering from cancer.

Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer Worldwide and is the most common cause of cancer death in women.

Madonna is reportedly bringing in a cool 10 million for a Sunsilk Hair Ad which is to be featured this Sunday, Feb 3rd, during the Super Bowl. The 30 second commercial is to be aired during the 4th quarter of the game between New England Patriots and New York Giants. Madonna’s 10 year old hit Ray of Light will provide the soundtrack for the ad and will be featuring footage of Madonna, Shakira and archival footage of Marilyn Monroe.